Lennar Multifamily Communities LLC is close to getting a separate site under contract in Nashville’s West End/Vanderbilt/Music Row area, said Christopher Cassidy, Southeast division president for the subsidiary of Lennar Corp. The company wants to build one to two apartment projects in Nashville a year.

“The job growth projection is strong and Nashville has truly become a major city in the Southeast, attracting young kids — not just from Tennessee, but all over,” Cassidy said. “It’s very similar to Austin, with major colleges and universities, strong heath care, (the) music industry and a great job outlook.”

Cassidy expects Lennar to close its contract on the three parcels off Franklin Pike in Berry Hill in the third quarter; construction would start soon after. That $48 million project will have 320 apartment units, and the first units should be available by the third quarter of 2015, with the project’s completion expected in early 2016.

Lennar plans to seek approval of its site plan from Berry Hills officials within 30 days, Cassidy said.

The building is to be three to five stories high, with structured parking and high-end finishes, including stainless steel appliances and granite countertops, he said. Most of the units will have one or two bedrooms, and rents are expected to start at about $1,000 and go up to $2,000 a month, for an overall average of about $1,350 to $1,400 a month, Cassidy said.

Fred Kane, vice president of land services at real estate firm Cassidy Turley in Brentwood, sees a need in Nashville for more apartments in that $1,000 to $2,000 a month price range vs. the Class A-plus luxury apartments being built in downtown and Midtown with monthly rents of $2,000 to $3,000.

“We’re a secondary market with a lot of people moving here, and it’s all job-driven,” Kane said. “And as long as that continues to happen, we will continue to be on the institutional radar for multifamily.”

Lennar hopes to complete buying and start work on the West End/Vanderbilt/Music Row site in the second quarter of 2015. Units there are expected to rent for $1,500 to $3,000 a month, Cassidy said.

From Lennar Multifamily’s offices in Atlanta, Cassidy oversees Georgia, Florida and Tennessee. In addition to the projects it is pursuing here, the subsidiary, which operates independently from Miami-based Lennar’s homebuilding operations, has completed projects and has apartments under construction or sites under contract in Atlanta and in Jacksonville, Orlando, Boca Raton and Plantation, Fla.

Getahn Ward covers growth and development. He can be reached at 615-726-5968 or gward@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter @Getahn.